Generally, I follow the “prime directive” when it comes to other people’s class. That is that I try to not interfere and let them do what they think is right. I don’t like to tell faculty that I would do something different than what they do unless they ask for my advice. In this case, I am just giving my own opinions about attendance.

So, should attendance be counted as part of the total course grade? For me the answer is clearly NO. I do TAKE attendance because it is required by the university. The best reason to NOT take attendance is to think of the instructor’s role in the classroom. There are actually two roles:

Mentor: (maybe that is not the best term) The instructor is there to help the student learn. There are many ways that this can be accomplished, but this is the main role.

Evaluator: Even though I don’t really want to do this, it is my job to also evaluate how well students understand the material. I can’t just give everyone an A because I want to.

So, with these two roles in mind, where does a grade for attendance fall? Is attendance part of the material to be evaluated? Probably not unless the class is ATND 101 (Introduction to Attendance). So, that is the answer right there. Grades are only part of the evaluation.

But wait! If I DON’T give a grade for attendance, then no one will come to class. And......? Why is that a problem? What if no one comes to class and they still understand the material and do well on the test? If that is the case, then the test is either too easy or your students are able to learn independently.

In my department (Chemistry and Physics) I don’t think anyone gives a grade for attendance, but I know it happens in college. Here is one piece of evidence that other departments are doing that:

• A student comes to class 15 minutes late. Commonly, this student’s biggest concern is to find the attendance sheet that I pass around during class to make sure he/she signs it.
• If a student for some reason does not sign the attendance sheet, after class they make sure to ask me about it.
• Suppose a student is going to miss the next class and brings me a doctor’s note explaining the absence - why?
• Some students come to class and either sleep or surf. Why would they do this?

The above examples are from an introductory non-science major’s class. The only reason I can think of for the strong emphasis on the attendance record is that even though the syllabus says attendance does not count for a grade, they believe it does. Why would they think this?

Ok, so I have sort of gone on a rant, I apologize. The key point is - should attendance be part of the grade? I think no. I feel better now.

Tags: teaching, lecture, attendance, rant